Next to the Yeghegis river, the road takes us to the Yeghegis community with the same name with its rich historical, cultural, spiritual and natural heritage. The 16 villages of Yeghegis are among the coziest corners in Armenia.
Visiting the villages of Yeghegis, you are related to the historical past of the Armenian people, you see centuries-old churches, ruins of fortresses, and khachkars.
Nature has been generous to this community. Yeghegis River with its tributaries, cold springs, hot and sour waters flow here. Yeghegis is also special with wild animals and flora living in its territory.
With a rich historical past, Yeghegis community today represents an administrative unit made up of 16 rural settlements of the Republic of Armenia. The main occupation of the local population is agriculture, beekeeping and animal husbandry.
Agricultural activity depends on climatic conditions and the state of rivers. Today the rivers in Yeghegis are overloaded with small hydropower plants, which disturb the balance of the river ecosystem.
Ecolur studied the problems of Yeghegis community and developed "Problems and proposed measures of implementation of the energy and climate resilience policy in the Yeghegis community in Vayots Dzor Region, the Republic of Armenia" information module.
The module was presented to Yeghegis local government representatives and local active residents.
In order to alleviate the problem of water scarcity, First Deputy Head of Yeghegis community, Aharon Gabrielyan, suggests to store the water. "We need to build reservoirs and store our water," he noted.
It was particularly emphasized that attacks on households by the Caucasian brown bear have become frequent. "Bears are flooding the villages," residents said.
Reed is not gasified. People heat their houses with kizyak and firewood in winter. The forest is under pressure.
Yeghegis has come under the attention of miners in recent years. In Vardahovit settlement of the community, geological works are underway at the polymetallic mining site of Vardenis. About 100,000 cubic meters of land resources, mostly alpine meadows, have already been disturbed. The area is also an eco-corridor for wild animals. According to local residents, the polymetallic mining project in Vardenis will have a negative impact on water sources.
Recommendations for the sustainable development of the community are developed in the module.
It is recommended to build a community solar plant in order to reduce own electricity costs, to introduce available energy technologies, this can be facilitated by joining the Covenant of Mayors of the community.
It is recommended that when developing the five-year community development and subsidy programs, take into account the importance of localizing the state policy of climate change mitigation, adaptation and renewable energy sector and the real needs of the population, include in the expenditure part of the municipal budget "expenses for the implementation of environmental, climate, energy programs of the year, measures aimed at reducing the risks of disasters " component.
You can familiarize yourself with the results of the studies and the complete set of recommendations in "Problems and measures of implementation of the policy of energy and climate resistance in Yeghegis community, Vayots Dzor Region, the Republic of Armenia" module.
This module was developed within the framework of " Impacted Communities and Civil Society Organizations as Participants in Introduction of Socio-ecological Culture in Energy and Climate Change Policies in Armenia" project implemented by "EcoLur" Informational NGO. The project is implemented with the support of "EU4Climate" regional project and the UNDP/GEF Small Grants Programme.
August 23, 2024 at 16:18